'Special issue-ization' as a growth and revenue strategy: Reproduction by the "big five" and the risks for research integrity.

IF 2.8 1区 哲学 Q1 MEDICAL ETHICS
David Mills, Sefika Mertkan, Gulen Onurkan Aliusta
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The exponential growth of MDPI and Frontiers over the last decade has been powered by their extensive use of special issues. The "special issue-ization" of journal publishing has been particularly associated with new publishers and seen as potentially "questionable." Through an extended case-study analysis of three journals owned by one of the "big five" commercial publishers, this paper explores the risks that this growing use of special issues presents to research integrity. All three case-study journals show sudden and marked changes in their publication patterns. An analysis of special issue editorials and retraction notes was used to determine the specifics of special issues and reasons for retractions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Findings suggest that these commercial publishers are also promoting special issues and that article retractions are often connected to guest editor manipulation. This underlies the threat that "special issue-ization" presents to research integrity. It highlights the risks posed by the guest editor model, and the importance of extending this analysis to long-existing commercial publishers. The paper emphasizes the need for an in-depth examination of the underlying structures and political economy of science, and a discussion of the rise of gaming and manipulation within higher education systems.

特刊化 "作为一种增长和创收战略:五大巨头 "的复制与研究诚信风险。
MDPI 和 Frontiers 过去十年的指数式增长得益于它们对特刊的广泛使用。期刊出版的 "特刊化 "尤其与新出版商有关,并被视为潜在的 "问题"。本文通过对 "五大 "商业出版商之一旗下三本期刊的案例研究分析,探讨了特刊的日益广泛使用给研究诚信带来的风险。所有三个案例研究期刊的出版模式都发生了突然而显著的变化。本文分析了特刊社论和撤稿说明,以确定特刊的具体内容和撤稿的原因。数据分析采用了描述性统计方法。研究结果表明,这些商业出版商也在推广特刊,文章撤稿往往与特邀编辑的操纵有关。这说明 "特刊化 "对研究诚信构成了威胁。论文强调了特约编辑模式带来的风险,以及将这一分析扩展到长期存在的商业出版商的重要性。论文强调,有必要深入研究科学的基本结构和政治经济学,并讨论高等教育系统中博弈和操纵行为的兴起。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
4.90
自引率
14.70%
发文量
49
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance is devoted to the examination and critical analysis of systems for maximizing integrity in the conduct of research. It provides an interdisciplinary, international forum for the development of ethics, procedures, standards policies, and concepts to encourage the ethical conduct of research and to enhance the validity of research results. The journal welcomes views on advancing the integrity of research in the fields of general and multidisciplinary sciences, medicine, law, economics, statistics, management studies, public policy, politics, sociology, history, psychology, philosophy, ethics, and information science. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees.
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